Post by Admin on Aug 13, 2015 4:39:00 GMT
One of the biggest challenges about sharing is making our material relevant and interesting. I want to share 2 practical ideas that I recently learned that you might find useful in order to make your sharing more relevant. These are not all there is to know about sharing, but these are all that I know =). Do share if you have some good ones!
1. Don't present the Bible as a "book"
If you grew up in church like me, the Bible was always presented to us as a book. A Holy Book. Truth is, the Bible is not a 'book'. It is better than that! It is a collection of true events about true people written by true people with Godly inspiration!
What we can do to leverage that the Bible is not just a book is, whether you are sharing a parable or a single verse, instead of quoting the Bible, highlight the character involved in the text.
So practically speaking, instead of saying "the Bible says ...", say:
You will feel that the text suddenly comes alive and becomes more relatable.
2. Offer a solution to a specific problem
Like most of you there are areas in my life that I either struggle or, by the Grace of God, struggled with. Comparison, insecurity, worry, fear, unhealthy sexual desire (meaning there is healthy sexual desire because without sexual desire none of us would be here =)), responsibility, meaning of life, money, pride, guilt, forgiveness and a lot more. Very encouraging huh?
This is what is encouraging, problems that we face today actually are not new! 2000 plus years ago, people also faced the same kinds of problems we face! I find that amazing! (sorry if there is too many exclamation points, but I find this very exciting!!!)
This means, the principles, teachings, parables, and wisdoms recorded in the Bible can provide solutions to our problems. The wisdoms of Solomon offer an explanation about how we are supposed to view life. The letters the Apostle Paul wrote offer guidelines on how we suppose to live our lives as Christians. The parables that Jesus taught address the problems we face in our lives in regards to what the Kingdom of God is like and what God is like. And there are many more illustrations.
So practically speaking, one of the most practical things that we can do is, at the beginning of our sharing, to promise that our sharing is going to solve a problem. A phrase that I like to use:
"If you have been having a problem with _____ ____ you might want to listen to the Apostle Paul's solution, which I am going to share today, to that problem"
One of the biggest reasons why something appears irrelevant is when it is not helpful. Something that is perceived as not helpful will come across as irrelevant. But if you are trying to answer a specific question
about a specific problem you have created an environment of need. This approach will make our messages to feel helpful because we are trying to solve a specific problem.
Another good thing about taking the approach of talking about our weaknesses is you will practically never run out of things to talk about!
Final Thoughts
While we should do our best to make our presentation interesting and relevant, we should not expect people’s hearts to be changed because of our efforts. Only the Holy Spirit can change a person’s heart. This is why prayer and dependence on God are still integral parts of our sharing preparation.
But our effort and creativity, multiplied by the power of the Holy Spirit will make the Gospels irresistible. Some people might not agree right away but they will find it attractive and irresistible because of how relevant and relatable the message is.
1. Don't present the Bible as a "book"
If you grew up in church like me, the Bible was always presented to us as a book. A Holy Book. Truth is, the Bible is not a 'book'. It is better than that! It is a collection of true events about true people written by true people with Godly inspiration!
What we can do to leverage that the Bible is not just a book is, whether you are sharing a parable or a single verse, instead of quoting the Bible, highlight the character involved in the text.
So practically speaking, instead of saying "the Bible says ...", say:
- "the Apostle Paul wrote to Christians in Galatia that ..."
- "then Jesus said ..."
- "Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived other than Jesus, said ..."
You will feel that the text suddenly comes alive and becomes more relatable.
2. Offer a solution to a specific problem
Like most of you there are areas in my life that I either struggle or, by the Grace of God, struggled with. Comparison, insecurity, worry, fear, unhealthy sexual desire (meaning there is healthy sexual desire because without sexual desire none of us would be here =)), responsibility, meaning of life, money, pride, guilt, forgiveness and a lot more. Very encouraging huh?
This is what is encouraging, problems that we face today actually are not new! 2000 plus years ago, people also faced the same kinds of problems we face! I find that amazing! (sorry if there is too many exclamation points, but I find this very exciting!!!)
This means, the principles, teachings, parables, and wisdoms recorded in the Bible can provide solutions to our problems. The wisdoms of Solomon offer an explanation about how we are supposed to view life. The letters the Apostle Paul wrote offer guidelines on how we suppose to live our lives as Christians. The parables that Jesus taught address the problems we face in our lives in regards to what the Kingdom of God is like and what God is like. And there are many more illustrations.
So practically speaking, one of the most practical things that we can do is, at the beginning of our sharing, to promise that our sharing is going to solve a problem. A phrase that I like to use:
"If you have been having a problem with _____ ____ you might want to listen to the Apostle Paul's solution, which I am going to share today, to that problem"
One of the biggest reasons why something appears irrelevant is when it is not helpful. Something that is perceived as not helpful will come across as irrelevant. But if you are trying to answer a specific question
about a specific problem you have created an environment of need. This approach will make our messages to feel helpful because we are trying to solve a specific problem.
Another good thing about taking the approach of talking about our weaknesses is you will practically never run out of things to talk about!
Final Thoughts
While we should do our best to make our presentation interesting and relevant, we should not expect people’s hearts to be changed because of our efforts. Only the Holy Spirit can change a person’s heart. This is why prayer and dependence on God are still integral parts of our sharing preparation.
But our effort and creativity, multiplied by the power of the Holy Spirit will make the Gospels irresistible. Some people might not agree right away but they will find it attractive and irresistible because of how relevant and relatable the message is.